“My heart is moved by all I cannot save”

Rap Attack: I’m A Climate Scientist

The F-bomb again, sigh. Maybe Tobis really has fundamentally altered the tone of climate science discussion? OK, they are climate scientists, there are actual facts and some legitimate political commentary in there, enjoy.

In the media landscape there are climate change deniers and believers, but rarely are those speaking about climate change actual climate scientists…

yo….we’re climate scientists.. and there’s no denying this Climate Change Is REEEEALL..

Who’s a climate scientist.. I’m a climate scientist.. Not a cleo finalist No a climate scientist

Droppin facts all over this wax While bitches be crying about a carbon tax Climate change is caused by people Earth Unlike Alien Has no sequel We gotta move fast or we’ll be forsaken, Cause we were too busy suckin dick Copenhagen: (Politician)

Now, I just know that having been profoundly influenced by the post on media strategies you are all thinking “where can I share this that it will reach it’s target audience? Facebook? faculty lounge? playgroup? every Denier blog I can think of? (In your face muther f**cker)”

OK, the last may not be all that effective from a media strategy perspective, but sometimes Geeks just gotta have fun. Whichever context you choose (if any), underscore that there is more real science in this two minute video than two hours of Rob Carter babbling.

Whatever networks you access that may be appropriate, Do it!

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38 Responses

I posted the following comment at Climate Progress, pertaining to this video and I am seriously disturbed that it went first into moderation (not unusual) but was then yanked! I can only hope it was some sort of intertube glitch and not an unwillingness to post a legitimate (ie, not a denier talking point but a political strategy) dissenting viewpoint.

I really don’t understand why the video “no pressure” (http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-pressure.html) sparked such faux outrage, when it was clearly satire by activists, and yet it appears so far the climate community is in support of this video by actual scientists that in my opinion makes them look silly.

I really don’t see how this is going to help influence older people, who tend to be more conservative, or younger people, who can smell pandering.

And the whole “rap” genre, by insulting people by calling them “bitches” as in, female subservient dogs, and a few other questionably racist stereotypes (is there something particularly bad about being a Lebanese reporter that I missed?) adds to the derogatory tone of the entire misguided piece.

I’m all in favor of climate scientists becoming more politically active, being as how our entire existence is threatened and all, plus, I have a bit of a potty mouth myself – but not on youtube! Must scientists go from total reticence, where they make no reference to tipping points, straight to this?

Jim Hansen, as so often and for so long, has it right. Do your science – and then march on a coal mine and get arrested, with dignity.
—-

Well you aren’t going to get yanked here.

Fair point about who it is supposed to appeal to and whether it actually does. It may well be one of those things that is really only for in house consumption. In the spirit of the media strategy post it will be worth watching what the overall reaction to it is, and by whom?

Thanks, Greenfyre! It will be interesting to see what the ultimate reaction is. My feeling is, if some truly innocuous phrases like “hide the decline” and “Mike’s Nature trick” can unleash torrents of unintended backlash that has had climate scientists on the defensive – instead of on the offense where they belong – I can only wonder…what were they thinking?

I guess we’ll find out.
—-

Gail
I confess my initial reaction was very similar to yours, but then it kind of grew on me somewhat. I am curious to see if it actually resonates with any audience outside the climate science community. My gut instinct is that it won’t, that it is very much an in house joke, but I am curious to see.

Two pieces of info though:
i) a Denier blog is sending traffic my way to see the “insane” video (17 hits … not much traffic there I guess);
ii) one Denier (relatively unknown, but hard core) has commented “nice vid” on it (elsewhere, not here)(not clear to me that he understood it though).

So make of that what you will.

UPDATE: OK, it’s getting a LOT of tweets, so it’s popular, which does not mean it is reaching outside of the climate sci community, but nonetheless popular.

I had an entirely different reaction to this vid as I did to the 10-10 no pressure one.

The no pressure I found distasteful. Even though it was clearly satire, it played into the hands of those that try to paint the “AGW community” (whatever that is) as trying to force their opinion onto others, ie it seemed to have come straight out of their playbook. Strategically a very dumb move.

The rap is different. It doesn’t play into the skeptical playbook at all. Allthough its bottom line seems to be: Trust us, we’re scientists. Skeptics did try to turn that around against us, by trying to paint it as arrogant. Yet the rappers in this video don’t come across as arrogant at all. I think it hits the right tone in terms of driving this point home. It’s still a valid point: Expertise matters, no matter how you slice it.

I thought it was a nice way of trying out a totally new way of communicating climate science, and am very curious what Randy Olson would have to say about it. (he pretty much begged the climate concerned to try out new experimental ways of communication; this seems like a good example of such).

Whether this experiment will be successful is hard to say. I wouldn’t be surprised if it will garner some smiles with rap adepts who aren’t climate concerned.

You know, many things that are not as obvious as the use of the term ‘bitch’ occur every day and are serious manifestations of misogyny. I’m not concerned about the use of ‘bitch’ in this context, because (not instead of) the need to appreciate issues related to representations in language.

The context includes the history of second-wave feminist reclamations of ‘bitch’ to move past the meaning given to it by patriarchy, and highlight not only women’s caregiving but all their roles, and action/aggression in defense of these roles. A lot of people may hesitate to engage with the contradictions and spectrum of feminism or or how the rap and youth movement can also be seen to reclaim language, but we need to use the moment to understand history, and use history to understand the moment.

‘bitches (complainers) be cryin’ ‘bout a carbon tax’.

So true. Couldn’t put it better myself — especially when the ‘bitches’ are almost all rich white guys and their right wing think tanks.

Martha, I just have to wonder, is it necessary? Isn’t there a better way – a clever, engaging script – to effectively reach a wide audience without the potential of offending people for legitimate reasons? Should we reclaim Kyke, and macaca and wetback too? Why stop there?

According to this excerpt, women are taking back the word “slut” in Slut Walks all over the world! I’m all for it, although the author of that piece is not:

“…In Boston, feminist writer Jaclyn Friedman bellowed, “Today we all march under the banner of sluthood!” In Ottawa, revelers chanted, “Slut, slut. Ho, ho. Yes means yes, and no means no!” The Web site “Feministing” described the slut walks as a “movement,” with one blogger saying, “Sign me up for Team Sluts.” The Slut Walk DC Web site boasts a banner, “Reclaiming the word slut.”

This is supposed to pass as progress for women?

Slut-walk defenders say that they’re being ironic, that it’s supposed to be funny that women are turning a word used to dehumanize them into a badge of pride.

If you don’t like the slut walks, then you just don’t get the hilarity of women debasing themselves in the name of empowerment.

OK, the early feminists — from whom the imposters ruining the movement claim to descend — did manage to turn the pejorative “suffragette,” coined to mock the seekers of equality, into a positive word. But a name that meant to mock is different than a word meant to dehumanize.

Here’s a prediction: Feminists will no sooner turn “slut” into a positive word outside their ever-shrinking bubble than African-Americans who call each other the “N-word” have taken away the sting of that dehumanizing epithet. Some words should be retired for good.

And many gays may now march proudly as “queer” — but plenty still bristle when an outsider uses the word. That’s unlikely to change, considering the original intent of it.

Sex-positive feminist icon Erica Jong presciently told writer Ariel Levy in 2003: “I was standing in the shower the other day, picking up my shampoo. It’s called ‘Dumb Blonde.’ I thought, ’30 years ago you could not have sold this.’ I think we have lost consciousness of the way our culture demeans women. Let’s not kid ourselves that this is liberation.”

Yes, please, and let’s not pretend that women holding “slut walks” is a step forward for womankind or will in any way change the treatment of rape victims.

While the so-called feminists are tarting up themselves to reclaim a vile, misogynist word, perhaps the rest of us should fight to reclaim the word “feminism” and return it to its roots of working for true equality.”

And appreciating the unique ability of political music (e.g. rap) to illuminate issues of oppression, racism, poverty, violence, alienation and inaction on climate change, does not mean there is no sexism (or racism or violence) in the music.

Given the depth and thoughtfulness of the discussion I have to say I consider the video a success for sparking it.

Let’s please continue to hear one another out and think about these issues, particularly as they apply to the issue of a media strategy, and see where it goes.

With that in mind, at the moment the video garners about 11,000 google hits, so obviously it is making the rounds. Is there a way to follow up on it, even if only going to some of the sites and participating in comments if appropriate? Something else to think about.

Young climate scientists are indeed a proper complement to drug dealing and pimping thugs who idealize criminality and shouted instead of sung lyricism. They have good company in other “counter cultural” icons such Charles and Osama:

In all seriousness, I don’t actually think this was very effective. Oldsters will find it disgusting and most skeptics are pushing retirement age (unlike me who am only 45 and enjoy hunting down obscure Eminem tracks and reading VICE magazine) whereas high school and college types view topical rap videos as being the ultimate in uber embarassing lameness. The expensive looking production value backfires here too. It’s *so* stinking of oily corporate flavor, like those awful motivational videos made for internal consumption within oppressive and boring corporations. That can’t possibly appeal to the former Monkey Wrench Gang anarchists that still lingers in my psyche. It should have included actual nudity and booty shaking, but not violence. Conversely, that it *wasn’t* nerdy enough is what sort of spoiled it even more. It was just posturing and vanity (at least in the first half I watched before I had to go grab a shot of whiskey to drown out the inconvenient sympathy I suddenly felt for some of you who actually have your hearts in the right place). It had to have more SCIENCE in it, but alas that describes the entire alarmist movement.

Duh. What do you think of the video, NikFromNYC? You spend too much time divining the opinions of everyone except your own. Perhaps you’re reluctant to state your own opinion because the video hits too close to home for your comfort?

The Green house effect is just a theory sucker (Alan Jones)
Yeah so is gravity float away muther f**cker

Radical Alexander Cockburn (not James Cockburn) has become very mixed up and irrational, arguing “there is zero evidence that the rise in CO2 levels has anthropogenic origins” in on-line climate change denial articles that are too stupid to link to.

He’s apparently now senile. :-(

“full of artifice”

Nik, it’s white scientists not pretending to be anything but whit scientists, in a Beastie Boys interloper style.

It brings it to a broad internet audience, from an edgy current events show that is far from stupid when it comes to media.

And no one is pretending it’s anything but artifice i.e. a communication strategy.

I always get a laugh when deniers who claim to know everything that is wrong about climate science and who give us the true”facts” are so ignorant of their “facts” that they can’t even get someone’s name correct.

If they are that sloppy with simple “facts” just imagine how wrong they always are when they actually discuss science.

Keep up the good work Nik, it is always fun to see how deluded and ignorant of facts you deniers really are.

You get a laugh at us “deniers” do you? Hey dude, laugh at astronauts, now at me.

—-

I assure you that we DO laugh at people who use their credential in one field to pretend authority and give uninformed opinion in an unrelated field, AND at the ones who use the appeal to false authority fallacy as a substitute for relevant facts.

“A few years ago I asked a top editor at CNN why, given the increasing proportion of news budgets dedicated to extreme weather, they did not make this connection. He told me, “We did. Once.” But it triggered a barrage of complaints from oil companies and automakers who threatened to withdraw all their ads from CNN if the network continued to connect weather extremes to global warming. Basically the industry intimidated CNN into dropping the one connection to which the average viewer could most easily relate.”

It’s all about the advertising.

and:

“The U.S. press today is in what I call “stage-two” denial of the climate crisis. They acknowledge its existence – and they minimize its scope and urgency. …. ignore the fact that scientists have been blindsided by the unexpected speed with which the climate is changing – and the expanding dimensions of the havoc it could cause. ”

I share many old-fashioned, and less old-fashioned, music lovers’ distaste for the in-your-face sexuality (grabbing the crotch) and rudeness of rap, but like the spoken rhythms. I changed a little from watching break dancing, especially on the early seasons of “So You Think You Can Dance” before it got so sleek. Extreme creativity is beautiful, but extreme rudeness is not and we tend to mistake surface for reality thanks to our wall-to-wall “virtual” infotainment world.

I do not have the choice to refuse my culture, but I could wish that it was not quite so ready to ignore history and civilization.

I’ll have a look. It would be very nice if real debate could enter back into the equation.

I see a disconnect between the small motley crew of eccentric loners like myself who as individuals see the Net as a funky fun lever to fuck with people’s opinion and the idea that there is some sort of big Denial Machine. So far into your video I only hear alarmism and pontificating. I do *not* hear a complex argument that takes into account the foibles of human nature and the fact that there are very many different types of people in the world. He’s just preaching about seemingly obvious alarmist facts without admitting that there might be ANY debate about those facts, any nuance.. Carbon Lobby? What *is* that? I’ve just ordered the big three books about us “deniers” to see what is really going on under your skull.

Continue with the irrelevant and ridiculous and you will be moderated out.

Spare us the ridiculous circumstantial ad hominems, the appeals to false authority (astronauts), the red herrings and the ad ignorantiam arguments … all of the standard Denier Dreck belongs in the Spam thread.

If you can rationally cite relevant peer reviewed science then do so, but even that belongs in the “Challenging the Core Science” Comment Thread, not here.

i) Your video is cleared labeled as Alexander Cockburn, but you still called him James; big fan of his work, are you?
ii) That Cocburn’s fact free rant is just a paranoid conspiracy theory with no reference to relevant science;
iii) That you you were trying yet another appeal to authority fallacy (re Oxford)

Is to suggest that the other party is the one with the vacant mind?

HELLO! Reality to NikFromNYC!

“

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

It seems you chose to persist with your ‘thermometer’ work, and other unreasoned arguments that you believe expose climate science as a “fraud” and a conspiracy. Watts, Steve and Curry have not been good mentors to you. They do not themselves demonstrate the analytical, criticalal and reflection skills needed to consider all that you wish to consider, from every possible angle, in addition to the science.

And it takes a mere fraction of the time and effort you have spent individualizing your own version of climate change denial thought, to actually read science or at least pragmatically evaluate the quality of your sources and information.

Your beliefs, to date, amount to ‘warming is natural’, and ‘CO2 is good’, with a sprinkle of “polly wolly think-a-so” ” game over you zombie freaks!” and “we just have to aim for the ankles, all over the ground you convulse, now, wiggle wiggle” to reinforce why you think what you think.

Basically, you need to stop this.

You seem to truly be addicted to the internet and to the stimulation you get from the sort of exchanges with others that you now seek out. I wonder if anyone in your (real) life has told you that you have lost your way. If not, I’m telling you.

Science denialism follows the same basic patterns no matter what the specific topic.
There is nothing special or unique about climate denialism. The arguments and the media manipulation and the paranoia are cribbed directly from the evolution deniers and the HIV deniers and the tobacco lobbyists.

For example: You don’t see any problem with getting your science from an old journalist-because he’s “Oxford trained”.
A retired astronaut? Oh wonderful. You are in raptures.

HIV deniers can do the same thing with Dr Duesberg.
Creationists can do the same thing with Dembski the Dumb.
Tobacco excecutives can drag out and dust off Dr Fred Singer.
Awful.

If you don’t want to be written off as a science denier, then STOP BEHAVING EXACTLY LIKE THEM.

Here is a better, more, uh, *authentic* rap video about AGW, now going viral, despite being in German.

English translation:

You thinking of climate change and you’re screaming for laws
You’re thinking about CO2 and saying “let’s stop it”
Global catastrophes happening all because of man
We did too much driving, now the planet is too warm
If we don’t do something soon then the ice will melt
A flood is gonna kill us and the future’s gonna fall
No it aint…I’m telling you you’re off the wall
Man aint causing climate change, yeah you
think I’m crazy and making no sense
But just look at the climate institutes and you’ll see
what they do, they’re fudging the data making it hot
We just found out…their studies are made up
A hacker got in the computer and the database
Now read the mails from the CRU – they’ll make you laugh
They’re cooking the numbers, the temperature is up
Listen to me! It’s all a fraud and enough is enough

Ref
Climate change was not made by man
No… It’s only to keep the world in fear
All those who are pimpin it are being called experts
And the brothers who diss it are getting labelled sick
Climate change was not caused by man
No…it’s only to keep the world in fear
But I don’t believe it, and so I’m getting labelled sick
But it’s the price you pay when you think for yourself

II
Climate change is normal, it’s always been around
We aint done a thing, history shows us so
History books show in 1100 the planet was warm
In North England people were pickin grapes and making wine
And that wasn’t because of factories run by knights and
The shield industry driving the climate up
Then in sixteen hundred the Baltic froze over and it
Wasn’t because they stopped CO2 with ‘reform’
That’s pure arrogance when man thinks he’s got the power
To control the whole climate on the entire globe
Truth is only 1 to 3 percent comes from man
Comes from processes that are natural – so they’re lying
Inside the brainless walls of these fear-mongering crackpots
They want more power, more money, more control, more global tax
And every skeptic is getting branded by them
Being defamed and compared to Holocaust deniers

Ref
Climate change was not made by man
No… It’s only to keep the world in fear
All those who are pimpin it are being called experts
And the brothers who diss it are labelled sick
Climate change was not caused by man
No…it’s only to keep the world in fear
But I don’t believe it, and so I’m getting labelled sick
But it’s the price you pay when you think for yourself

Your post, which I only saw today since the Net is a very large city in time and virtual space, made me think about myself self-consciously for I indeed, up till now imperceptibly, have swung from the former (anarchism) to the later (libertarianism) without nary a glitch.

What you are speaking of is Love, something which in my view as an armchair Darwinist may merely be an in-group (family, counterculture, city, nation state) urge, meaning an us-vs.-them phenomena, sadly, yet delightfully so.

If you don’t get the girl, you are hereby elected by all and sundry to merely peer through the keyhole.

I think a vigorous society requires all sorts of fundamentally different people, but if the intellectuals wipe out the sexuals, then that society will suffer constipation and eventual ruin.

I need to mull this over.

I’m was much more a Yippie (Youth International Party) than a Hippie in my youth, I now realize.

If you want to gather everybody together into the ultimate group hug, well, then what?

“Heaven is a place where nothing happens.” – paraphrase of David Byrne